The Less Dangerous of Two Truths
by starrynightshade
Summary: A series of drabbles centered on Skye, May, and Coulson.
1. Expert in Deception

Melinda May was an expert in deception. At least, she was supposed to be. But nothing Trip said could convince Skye that there was nothing going on between her and Director Coulson.

"I'm telling you, they've got a secret." She insisted, as they pored over case files together.

"I'm sure they're both up to their ears in secrets, Skye. We all seem to be these days."

"I'm not talking about SHIELD secrets, I'm talking about personal secrets."

He gave her a look that said 'please tell me you're not going where I think you're going with this.'

"Come on, Trip. I know them, and there is definitely something going on there."

He wasn't having it though. "What's going on there is two people trying to build SHIELD back up."

"Oooooor, two people doing the frickle-frackle when they think nobody will notice."

"This is ridiculous. You think Agent May is sleeping with the Director?" He asked dubiously.

"I think there's very little sleeping going on." She said. Trip rolled his eyes. "Hear me out. I listened to all your crazy theories about Koening." She reminded him.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine."

"Okay, so since May is my S.O. I spend a lot of time with her, right?" She didn't wait for a response, just plowed on. "But, every time Coulson comes back she goes to him immediately. She even ended our combat lesson early the other day to go 'speak' to him in his office."

"May is Coulson's right-hand woman. He probably needed to talk to her."

"She was in there for a long time." Skye persisted.

"They probably had a lot to talk about."

"Or _not _talk about."

"Alright, let's say for the sake of the argument that they are in some sort of relationship. What's to keep them from being open about it? It's not like they have superiors who can punish them."

"When have you known May to be 'open' about anything?"

Skye was happy for them though (after all, _someone_ on the base deserved to be happy), and she set out to subtly make that fact known to them.

"So, how was your meeting with the Director?" Skye asked a few days later.

May adjusted her posture before answering. "I know you're worried about him, but Coulson is fine."

"I know." She said. "You have his back." _Among other things._ She added mentally.

"What's that supposed to mean?" May asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Skye said innocently. "It's just that, you two have a lot of one-on-one time whenever he's back. Which is totally understandable, given how close you two are…"

"Look," May began "I realize that you've been missing Coulson, we all have, but all of this travel is necessary. I'm sorry you haven't gotten to see him much lately, but believe me when I say that I'm not seeing him more than anyone else."

_Maybe not, but you're certainly seeing more _of _him than anyone else._ Skye thought. "I know." She said again, turning her attention back to her laptop. "I'm just glad that he has you, that's all." For a brief moment, May felt a twinge of panic. Had Skye figured it out? Had she noticed the brief, meaningful looks that passed between them, or the way Coulson was always the slightest bit more relaxed after their 'meetings'? But then she added "Like you say, it's a bad idea to keep things… pent up."

May sighed inwardly, because although she was relieved that Skye hadn't figured out about Phil's episodes, she really couldn't think of a subtle way to say "Skye thinks we're banging on your desk, and we need to let her keep believing it." Yes, Melinda May was a expert in deception, but sometimes she really wished she could tell people the truth.


	2. Two Truths and a Lie

Coulson's head snapped up at the knock on his his door. "Come in."

"We need to talk." Said May, closing the door behind her.

"About?" he asked, sorting the papers on his desk into the appropriate stacks.

"It's Skye." She said. That caught his attention.

Coulson set down the papers in his hand, looking up at her. "Is she alright? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened to her." May assured him.

"What's wrong then? Is it her training? Is it Ward?"

May wished Skye could see him right now, fretting over her well-being like an overprotective father. She knew the young woman had been feeling somewhat abandoned by his frequent absence from the base and May wanted her to know that he didn't care about her an less.

"If you would listen," she said "instead of spewing theories, I'd be able to tell you."

"Right. Sorry."

She perched herself on the corner of his desk. "I just had a very interesting conversation with her."

"About what?"

"You and I, actually."

"Oh." Phil said before a worried look fell across his face. "What does she know?"

"The less dangerous of two truths."

"So we make sure that she thinks there's only one secret to know." Phil said. "Just to be clear, what exactly does she think is going on?"

"Not long debriefings and strategic meetings in your office, that's for sure." Phil's forehead creased in confusion. "I believe I heard her refer to it as 'the frickle-frackle' to Trip once." May clarified.

"She thinks we're having sex in my office?" He asked.

May smirked. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."

He picked her hand up off the desk, intertwining their fingers. "Oh, only every time you walk in here in one of those v-necks." He said. "But I'm really quite fond of this desk, and I'd hate for any…accidents to happen."

"I can't help it if I miss you." May said, defending herself.

Coulson smiled, pulling her hand up to his lips. "I miss you too."

"She approves, by the way. I thought you'd want to know."

"I figured she would."

"Promise me you'll make some time for her." May said as she brushed his hair back with her free hand. "She really misses you."

He gave her a sad smile. "I miss her too. But, that's one of the sacrifices I have to make for the job. A job that I should probably get back to, now that I think of it."

May hopped off the desk as Coulson stood up from his chair. "I won't get in your way." She said. "Do me a favor before I go though?"

"What's that?"

"Mess my hair up a little? She's monitoring the hallway and we have a story to sell."

He grinned, weaving his fingers through her dark hair and giving her a proper kiss. "Is that good enough?" He asked.

"It'll do." May said, pulling away and walking towards the door. "For now, anyway."


	3. Augmenting Your Skill Set

"Skye." Coulson said, slightly surprised to see her standing in the door to his office.

"Are you busy?" She asked politely. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Her formality made his heart ache. He knew better than anyone that this new world required them to change, but he missed Skye. And it wasn't just the fact that he didn't see her as often, he missed the vibrant and witty girl who had charmed her way into his heart in a matter of days. The young woman standing in his office now was so different from that girl.

"It's fine." He said. "Come in, sit down."

Closing the door behind her, she came in and settled somewhere between leaning and sitting on the corner of his desk. As she sat there, apparently gathering her thoughts, he couldn't help but be reminded of the corner's usual occupant; another strong woman who had had the warmth leached from her by the harshness of the world.

"Can I ask you something?" Skye asked, finally looking up at him.

"Go ahead."

She hesitated for a brief second. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not that fragile, Skye. Sure i got knocked around a little bit, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"No, I mean, are you _okay_?" She asked again.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at."

Skye sighed, and looked down to where her hands were fidgeting in her lap. "You've been different lately. I'm worried about you."

"Skye, I promise you that I'm okay. I'm not sick. I'm not injured. I'm fine." Coulson insisted. "Well, I've probably been drinking too much coffee, but that's nothing I haven't done before." He smiled.

She gave him a half smile. "If you say so, AC."

"How's your training been going?" He asked, not wanting her to go just yet.

"May says I'm making progress. My control has been improving."

"That's good. I know she's not always the most open person, but she's proud of you… we both are."

She looked back down at her hands, fighting a blush. "You know, I was kind of bummed I couldn't come with you guys. May says you have some pretty smooth moves." She said, cracking a smile and for a moment she looked like her old self.

"It was just a little something I picked up at the academy." He said humbly. "You could probably out-dance me with your hands tied behind your back."

"I wouldn't know." She said. "I was never really the clubbing type, and it's not like I stayed at a school long enough to go to prom."

Coulson shook his head. "Unacceptable. If this last mission proves anything, it's that being able to dance is an important part of being a field agent." He stood up walking over to the corner of the room.

"What are you doing?" She asked, as he pulled a record from his collection and set it on the vintage record player that had been gathering dust since they'd arrived at the Playground.

"Augmenting your skill set." He said, holding out his hand. She took it tentatively as the first strains of a Waltz washed over the room.

She paid close attention as Coulson explained the timing and showed her the proper posture.

"Sorry." She said, accidentally stepping on his toes.

"It's okay, just don't look down." He said.

"You realize that literally all I want to do now is look down?" Skye asked, glancing at their feet.

"You're overthinking it."

"You sound like May." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, May's right." Coulson said. "And you shouldn't do that with your eyes, they'll get stuck that way."

"Now you _really_ sound like May."

"I think you've got it." He said, reminding Skye of what their feet were doing. "Let's try turning."

"Oh, I don't think-" She started, but he was already leading her into a slow turn. "Hey, I'm doing it!" She said with surprise.

"See? You just can't overthink it." Coulson said before suddenly spinning her under his arm.

"Whoa, AC. You do have moves!" She smiled at him. "How on earth did you keep those Academy girls at bay?"

"By being a huge dork." Came a voice from the doorway.

"Look! We're augmenting my skill set." Skye said proudly, somehow managing not to fall out of step with Coulson.

"You're a natural." May said, letting the corners of her mouth turn up a little. "Unlike some people." She added with a pointed look in Phil's direction.

"At least I finished the class." Coulson retorted. "And I resent that dork comment."

May shrugged. "You were a dork, and I had no choice but to drop that class. You bruised my toes so badly I couldn't walk right the next day.

Skye smirked and bit back a dirty joke.

"Something to say, young lady?" Phil asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"As much as I would love to stay and relive your glory days, I have work to do." She excused herself with an exaggerated courtesy and walked out the door.

"If it makes you feel any better, your dorkiness was very endearing." May said, Taking Skye's place in Coulson's arms.

He smiled and dropped a kiss to her temple. "I know."


	4. A Click and a Flash

Skye had forgotten about the little compartment next to her bed on the Bus. When they'd arrived at the Playground she had moved her personal belongings out of her bunk and into her room, but she'd been in a hurry and had forgotten to empty the little drawer-like hiding spot. She remembered it now though, as she pulled the drawer out and rifled through its contents. At the top were a couple of hair ties, a lip balm, a pen, and a few other little odds and ends that she had wanted to keep on hand.

She paused when her fingers brushed over the envelope on the bottom. She knew exactly what was inside, knew just how much it would hurt to go through those photos, but she opened it anyway, tipping them into her hand. Nobody on the Bus had asked questions when she suddenly acquired a beat-up polaroid camera and she had spent weeks sneaking around with it snapping photos of her teammates.

The first photo was of Fitz and Simmons. They must have been arguing about something because Simmons had an exasperated look on her face and Fitz was gesturing wildly with his arms. She could almost hear them now, shooting four syllable words at each other in raised voices until one of them got that excited look that meant they'd solved whatever problem they were facing. She wondered if that's what had happened in the medical pod. Simmons hadn't told her exactly what had happened down there and she'd been too scared to ask Fitz, but she couldn't help wondering if the two of them had sat at the bottom of the ocean arguing until one of them realized what needed to be done.

Skye shook her head, moving the photo to the back of the stack. The next one was of May. Skye had settled next to her in the cockpit one night, intent on making her smile for the picture, and she was pretty sure it had nearly cost her her life, but after spending fifteen minutes making an exaggerated play-by-play commentary on everything she did May had finally cracked the tiniest of smiles. There was one of Coulson sitting at his desk, looking at her in surprise after she had walked in and said "Smile, AC!"

The next one made her smile. She had made Fitz take it while she sat in the driver's seat of Coulson's beloved Lola, pretending to fly the car. If only she'd known at the time what her next ride in Lola would be like.

The picture of her in Lola was followed by several candid photos - May doing tai chi, Simmons crushing Fitz and Coulson in a game of Scrabble, May and Coulson in the kitchen making heart eyes at each other. There was one of Simmons with her hands on her hips, making a ridiculous face. "I'm Agent Grant Ward," she would have been saying in a nasally accent, "and I can detect a threat from 500 yards. In the dark!"

She'd never seen the next ones, and she remembered that Fitz had had the camera for a while so he could fix it. He must have taken the picture of Jemma sitting in the lounge with a book in one hand and a teacup in the other, and the close-up of one of the lab rats, and the one of Simmons adjusting one of their designs on the holo-table. She smiled at the image of her scientist friend and hoped for the hundredth time that day that she was alright.

There was one of her and Ward playing Battle Ship, too. She had a hand over her heart in shock. "Did you just give me a compliment?" No. She pushed the memory away, sliding the picture to the back of the stack. She couldn't think about the old Ward, the one she thought she had known - the Ward that she had cared for.

She turned her attention to the final picture. She remembered taking this one, and that only made it that much more painful. She had pestered Ward about it for days. "I have one of everyone else!" She'd insisted, and eventually he had caved and let her snap a quick shot of them before they went to train. She had tossed it into the drawer before the photo had finished developing, so she hadn't seen it yet. She was smiling into the camera, but Ward had turned his head at the last minute to look at her. It was the same way he'd looked at her as she lay in bed healing from her bullet wounds, like she was sun breaking over the horizon. She didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell onto her hand.

Swiping away at the tears on her cheeks, she shoved the photo in back of the pile and returning the pictures to their envelope.

"Everything alright in here?" Typical. May had managed to sneak up on her again.

"Yup." Skye said brightly, gathering up the envelope and the camera that had been stashed in the back of the drawer. "Just grabbing a couple things from my bunk."

May saw right through her, just like she always had, but didn't press the issue. Skye was grateful for that. "Hey, May." She said, just as her S.O. turned to leave. "Smile."

The camera went off with a click and a flash. Skye started to feel like herself again.


	5. Everything In My Power

"Irresponsable?" Lance scoffed. "Who was it that left for a two week mission without telling me?"

Bobbi didn't even look up from her magazine. "I told you," she said coolly "that was urgent and highly classified."

Skye closed her laptop and tried to leave the room as discreetly as possible. She was headed for the Bus in hopes of finding a peaceful place to work when she ran into her S.O.

"Tired of the lounge?" May asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I wouldn't go up there if I were you. Love is in the air." Skye said, indicating the staircase she had just descended. "And by that I mean, Bobbi and Hunter are four seconds from hate banging on the coffee table. Don't get me wrong, Bobbi's awesome and I love having her here, but there are only two ways that situation can end."

"I was just coming to look for you."

"Is something wrong? Is it Coulson?" Skye asked. Her heart rate jumped for a moment before she fought to get it back under control.

"No, he's fine." May assured her. "I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?" Skye asked incredulously. "For what?"

"You were right. You deserved to know what was going on with Coulson and we - I shouldn't have kept it from you."

Skye shook her head. "I get that you were trying to protect me, I really do, but thank you for the apology anyway. I didn't really think you were the type."

"To say I'm sorry?" May asked. "Never put too much faith in someone who's too proud to apologize, Skye."

She nodded. "Well, since we're putting it all out there, I'm sorry about running off on my own and trying to interfere with the whole Raina situation." She said, not quite able to meet her S.O.'s gaze.

"Good. You should be." May said before turning on her heel and heading back in the direction she had come from.

"Wait, what?" Skye gaped, jogging to catch up with her. "In my defense, I was trying to save Simmons! And if you and AC had just told me that Bobbi was there to protect her, I wouldn't have tried to intervene."

May stopped walking and turned so she and Skye were face-to-face. "Skye, if you want my trust then I need to be able to trust you. Nearly compromising a mission and disobeying a direct order is not the way to do that." She took a deep breath and placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "I know you didn't realize what was going on at the time, but you should have trusted me when I said that Phil had a plan. I will always do everything in my power to protect you - all of you guys. You should know that by now."

"I do know that." Skye said earnestly, finally looking her in the eye.

"Good." May nodded. "Now, weren't you headed somewhere?"

Skye gave her a lazy salute before turning around and walking down the hall towards the hangar.

May grinned the slightest bit as she watched the young woman walk away.

"I just saw Skye." May said, walking into Coulson's office.

"How is she?" He asked, closing the file he'd been reading.

"Pretty good when you consider what went down yesterday." She shut the door behind her and came to sit on his desk. "And you? How are you holding up Phil?"

Gently, he picked up one of her hands, filling the gaps between her fingers with his own. "I'm glad that she's okay - that she's safe, but I feel so guilty too."

"Phil, none of this is your fault." She insisted. "You were trying to do what you thought was best for Skye. That's not something you should feel guilty about."

He looked down at their intertwined fingers. "I'm worried about what will happen to her if I get worse. I don't want to put her through more than she's already been through."

May put a hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Phil, she's a lot stronger than you give her credit for. And you don't have to worry about what would happen because we're going to figure this out."

He stood up and cradled her face in his hands. "I don't thank you nearly enough for everything you do."

"You don't have to…" She started.

"I mean it, Melinda. I'm lucky to have you here with me." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, her forehead, her nose, her jaw, and finally her lips. "I love you."

"Good," she smiled, "because I'm not giving up on you. Neither of us are."


	6. Forgotten Things

May wouldn't go a away. "Please just leave me alone." Skye tried, only to be met with another round of knocking on the door.

"I'll kick this thing down if I have to." She threatened, and the younger agent knew she wasn't bluffing. With a sigh Skye rolled off the bed and unlocked the door, sitting back down just as she heard it swing open. "About time." May told her.

"What do you want?" Skye asked, not even attempting to sound friendly.

Her S.O. held up a small bag. "You forgot some things." She said, and set it down on Skye's lap.

She reached inside, fingers brushing over some of the contents, and pulled out the topmost object. It was her hula girl, still smiling broadly as she held her ukulele. Skye hadn't forgotten it, but left it behind in her bunk on purpose. Every time she laid in her bed and looked over at it, she expected the trinket's little plastic hips to start swaying from the tremors she sent rippling through the ground. It was a constant reminder of the terrible things she could do now.

"Thanks." Skye said, tossing it onto her bed carelessly. She'd have Fitz put it back the next time he came by. She dreaded finding out what else was in the bag, but May was looking at her expectantly, and she knew she wasn't getting out of this. She reached back in and pulled out her camera. If her camera was in here, then… sure enough the envelope of photographs was tucked beneath it. Both of them had been collecting dust in one of her dresser drawers since Trip's death.

May nodded at the envelope. "What's in it?"

"You went through my drawers to bring it to me and you're going to pretend you don't know what's inside?"

The corner of May's mouth quirked up. "I didn't want to totally invade your privacy. Besides, you should open it up, it might be good for you."

"Or it could be dangerous for the entire base." Skye countered, setting the envelope down on the mattress.

May sat down next to her on the bed, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Skye, I know that you can handle this. You can control your emotions, and you can channel them into controlling your powers."

"I can't, May. You heard what they said about me. They called me an abomination, Simmons said I was a plague, Mack thinks I'm endangering the whole team, thinks you guys need to be protected from me. The worst part is, I can't even argue. He's right, I shouldn't be around you guys, I'm too dangerous."

May shook her head. "Don't flatter yourself. You're messy at best, but if your powers grow and you refuse to learn to control them, then you really could become dangerous." She picked up the envelope and handed it to the younger agent. "Which is why you should practice now."

Skye took a deep breath and cleared her head, just like May had taught her. Then, she reached into the envelope and pulled the pictures out.

The newest ones were at the top of the pile, first a picture of Bobbi stretching after a workout, then one of Hunter stirring a cup of coffee with a sour look on his face.

And then there was Trip. He was laughing at something, though she couldn't remember what, he always seemed to be laughing. Almost instantly she could feel the ground begin to tremble.

"Skye." She had almost forgotten that May was even there. "Skye, you need to focus."

"I can't!" The tremors grew stronger.

"Yes you can! Focus."

Skye tried to picture her emotions, like currents of different colors running through her all swirling together. She separated out the grief first, then the guilt, then the anger, then the sadness, until all that was left was pure white energy flooding her body. Energy she could work with, so she channeled it into her mind, her center of focus, and she made the quaking stop.

"I did it!" It sounded halfway between a question and a fact.

"I knew you could."

* * *

"How is she?"

May curled up as close as she possibly to Phil in the bed. "Still shaken up. Her emotions are all over the place but her control is improving."

"And those tremors earlier?"

"Just a little bit of practice." She sighed, propping her chin on her hand and looking down at him. "Phil, I know you don't like the idea, but she needs help. And we both know that it's the kind of help neither of us can give her."

He nodded, reaching for her free hand. "You're right, we need to do what's best for Skye."

Melinda smiled down at him. "You know I love you, right?"

"Not as much as I love you." He said.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

"That depends, are we going to take our clothes off if it is?"

She wrapped her fingers in the hem of his t-shirt. "We're taking our clothes off either way."

"Then yes, it is a challenge." He decided, only to have his shirt tugged up unceremoniously.

"We'll see about that."


End file.
